Sensors for drones? DARPA wants an app for that.

Mobile developers who have worked on apps to help people find restaurants and buy movie tickets could soon be working on smart-phone apps to help the military fly its drones, InformationWeek reports.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects agency, the research arm of the Defense Department, is looking for developers to work on its Adaptable Sensor System program. DARPA wants them to develop sensor technology that works on devices similar to smart phones for use in unmanned aerial vehicles.

DARPA is specifically looking at app developers from the commercial sector to help develop the sensor technology, said Program Manager Mark Rich. ADAPT could use the sensors abroad small UAVs or hidden underground at a deployed airfield, he added in a statement on DARPA's website.